The War of the Captains: Captain Hook
by Penelope Grace
Summary: Sort-of Peter Pan retelling. Set before the events of Scarlet, and was written for the Winter Fanfiction Contest.


**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress. Marissa Meyer (as far as I know) owns the Lunar Chronicles. This is fanfiction, and this is for fun. Captain Hook and the Crocodile are not actual characters in canon.**

* * *

COME HOME.

Captain Hook stares at the message on his netscreen, temptation nudging him. He then pulls out a worn picture of a dark-skinned young girl in a yellow dress. 10 years old. Her name was Ebele. A familiar surge of determination runs through his blood.

He deletes the message and switches to news.

Slouching in his pilot's chair, he imagines banging his rival's head on a stone wall. Another theft. A necklace, sold for 15,000 univs by Peter Pan.

Thorne.

He has been an annoying pain in Hook's side, always sabotaging Hook's efforts. No amount of intimidation Hook exudes will discourage Cadet Carswell Thorne from a life of pirating and theft.

Thorne "rescued" one of Hook's hostages. Tiger Lily, the Native American granddaughter of an Ambassador to the American Republic, was supposed to be taken by him for 3.2 months until she could be returned. Of course, Hook will receive 50,000 univs for his troubles.

He rubs his stubble. How can I get rid of "Captain" Thorne? Thorne, who is becoming a fierce rival of Hook's black market business, is brilliant.

Thorne stirs up too much trouble.

If Thorne hadn't set off the alarms by pocketing an expensive wristwatch, Mr. Smee would be here instead of a blast, bumbling dolt pretending to be worthy of first mate.

Blame also lies on the Crocodile. No matter how far in the galaxy he flies, Admiral Anyang "Crocodile" Julo of African Union's Navy will be there to meet him. She may be out of her jurisdiction, but when Hook is involved, she has the command of the entire Navy and some squadrons of the Air Force. She is the best strategist in the history of African Union's military. While politicians are arguing about a global threat, Admiral Julo has already neutralized it.

Captain Hook admires her.

HIs phantom right hand itches, and Hook's neck hair rises. Ever since he lost his right hand to the Crocodile in a fierce battle, he wishes for a cyborg replacement. A doctor specializing in cyborg technology can give him a replacement. But the Crocodile will catch him before he can ask, "How many univs?" So a hook will do.

She always catches up to him.

Captain Hook is surprised by how welcoming that thought is. Something that will always be familiar, he muses. The game with the Admiral and himself. He thinks back to the first time they met.

In the English park, he watched a black girl play against an old grandmaster. When the elderly grandmaster forfeited and left, he grinned and made his way over. He stood over her and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

"No," she answered. They shook hands. The feel of her satin-like skin seared into his mind, and the slightest smell of jasmine wavered over to Hook.

"James Hook."

"Anyang," she replied.

Back in the present, Hook hears his crew's complaints. They hate that they steal scientist's notes more frequently than jewels. He ignores it.

Dee Dee clears his throat. "Err… An announcement to make?"

Silence.

"Sire?" he whispers.

"Get on with it," growls Hook. He turns around to the first mate, rises to his full height, and raises his right hook menacing against Dee Dee's neck. The Chinese boy should be in college. Instead, he is helping Hook copy doctors' notes and journals on the Blue Fever. "My time is too precious."

He winces at his own words. Time.

Tick, tock.

The Crocodile loves to remind Hook that it is a question of not _if_ she'll catch him, but _when_ she'll catch him.

When.

She'll make good on her words. The Crocodile never fails to deliver. She captured him once before and threw him into a swanky prison. He escaped two weeks later.

"African Union's Air Force has been picked up on our radar!"

Captain Hook's frown deepens. "Did they pick us up?"

Dee Dee turns to his twin, Dee Dum Po. Hook's ship has a command station for his officers and technicians. Rows of chairs and tables bolted to the floors are occupied by the smartest of Hook's twenty-man crew.

"Nah," murmurs one of his men.

"What was that?" bellows Hook, releasing the poor first mate's shoulder. He turns towards the offensive answer. "A yes or no answer would be sufficient!"

"No, sire!" The hacker blinks back shiny tears. "No. Mr. Smee's jamming software remains intact and will disguise us for the next two minutes. They will have visual in seventy-two seconds."

Hook ponders his problem. If he runs now, the African Union will notice him. If he stays on route, the military ships will suspect it is him.

He needs a third option.

"Captain!" Dee Dum stares at his boss. "Captain Hook, do have an order for us?"

"Deception." Captain Hook knows his ship, the Milky Way, is a fighter ship equipped with laser guns and missiles. He stole this ship from the Eastern Commonwealth after a very quiet affair. He doubts the Eastern Commonwealth's military has even noticed its absence.

"Captain?" repeats Dee Dum. "What means… deception?"

Hook winces, as if someone has walked all over his stomach and spit in his eye. It's these days, he wishes Mr. Smee is here. The Po twins are a nightmare in anything requiring brainpower.

"We're playing the Eastern Commonwealth military," yells Hook, adrenaline rushing through his bloodstreams. A vein at his neck budges.

At his word, the crew bursts into controlled chaos.

Hook disappears into the cargo area. The Po twins immediately join him. Their faces are too well known by the African Union's military. Three other figures slip in, the last shutting the hatch behind her.

They wait, sweat dripping off their foreheads.

Finally, the door opens with a hiss.

"All clear," says a technician wearing a purple uniform.

Sitting on the shipment boxes, the captain twirls the ends of his worm-like mustache with his hook. He stares at nothing, lost in deep thought.

He longs for the girl he misses. Thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years of being alive. Twenty years of pirating. Nineteen years since he had fallen in love and fallen—hard.

Eight years spent trying to find a priceless cure.

"Captain?"

Hook doesn't answer to his crew.

He goes through the days, moving, stealing, and breathing. He does not live. Time passes by. Flickers of images pass by.

In an underground bar, he exchanges words with Thorne.

"The Hope Diamond." Hook grins, eyes frozen and heart lost. "Stolen four hours ago. You're not cut out for this life."

Thorne rises, puffing out his chest. "The Ashberg Diamond."

"Old news," dismisses the older captain. He watches Thorne slip away, chatting among thieves and killers as if they are his old friends. A surprising worry aches at the back of Hook's mind.

It is only in the fifteenth month of Thorne's thieving career when Hook manages to capture all of Carswell's crew members along with a young English girl named Wendy Darling. How a civilian managed to get into Thorne's safe house is beyond Hook's comprehension.

How thoughtless of Thorne.

He is too young.

"Thorne will come for us!" shouts Wendy, handcuffed in the special rooms Hook commissioned for his prisoners. The blond girl, who quietly sits behind Wendy, glares at the blank wall.

Hook sighs, nearly impaling his forehead with his own titanium hook. A girl in love with Thorne. Another two girls, to be accurate. Both of them have those looks Hook is too familiar with.

"Thorne will be as good as dead," seethes Hook at the girls, mustering as much attitude and hatred as possible. Once he is out of the prison, his shoulders fall lax. _I'm getting too old for this_ , he thinks.

Nevertheless, he goes on. What else can he do?

Hook takes his ships to Earth. Landing on top of a deserted building Hook bought 4.6 years ago, Hook steps out into the sunlight.

He takes in his surrounding. Dull, abandoned buildings. Nature has taken over most of the city, and birds chirp in the distance. The unbearable heat forces Hook to sweat.

A figure stands on the edge of Hook's roof. His piercing blue eyes meet Hook.

Foolish boy.

"Give me back my crew and the girl."

"You are in no position to issue orders. I won't release that English girl. I won't bother with the boys, your so-called crew. They are already lost," says Hook, waving his threatening hook at Thorne.

Still, Thorne fights. One boy versus a crew. "You coward! Always running away! Fight me!"

With a heavyweight in his stomach, Hook grimly stares at the boy in front of him. He, once again, wishes he could be anywhere but here.

A ticking noise from Hook's portscreen breaks the silence.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

A feminine voice wryly notes, "But I can issue orders. Captain Hook, hands up. You're done."

Jumping, Hook turns slightly to the left. Surprisingly, he meets the cool brown eyes of the Crocodile with relief—not horror. He smiles a little, letting himself be taken away by the soldiers underneath Admiral Anyang Julo's command. They free Hook's prisoners from his prison, gently guiding them away.

Thorne himself isn't arrested. From the very looks of the Crocodile's operations, he knew Thorne sold him out.

Hook chuckles, sitting down in the lonely cell. Thorne may be worthy of being Captain Thorne after all. He looks out of the window of the prison ship, seeing the young man standing on a rooftop faraway. He remembers how corrupted Thorne's crew is.

Gingerly touching the glass with his left hand, he whispers, "Good luck, Thorne. Find a good, trustworthy crew."

Setting his arm down, he turns his head back to the opening door. Admiral Julo walks in, her white standard uniform as sharp and pressed as ever. There is a time when Hook's seen her less-than-perfect. But she is beautiful as always. The familiar black curl at her nape is partially hidden by her commander's cap.

He blinks and grins, feeling lighter than ever before. "Hello, Anyang. I'm sorry about Tiger Lily. Thorne interfered."

The door slides shut behind her. The Crocodile is beautifully lethal, her nails painted red and her lips a lovely shade of pink. Ebony skin. Hook breathes in. Jasmine-scented conditioner.

His heart beats faster. She always forgets to wash it out.

Her cheekbones are pronounced, and her eyes are soft, though slightly hardened by time and age.

"You came after me more desperately than usual," he comments casually. "What is the occasion?"

"Amara." The Crocodile bites her bottom lip and then sits on the bench across from him. The soft sway of the ship's takeoff reminds the two of their location.

Hook stiffens, believing the worst.

"Amara contracted Letumosis."

A pause.

Hook's nightmare comes true.

"No." Then louder, more distraught. "No! NO! Not possible. But that isn't…" Hook lets out a painful breath. Suddenly, the world's weight and might ruthlessly crashes down on him once again and tears well up at the corner of his eyes. He chokes out, "How?"

"Hospital. It broke out from there."

Eight years ago, Ebele. Now, her twin sister, Amara.

"You should have never let her intern at the hospital. Now, my daughter…" He bows his head, finding himself praying for a merciful god he'd never prayed to before. Two of his children. He hopes that his youngest daughter, Nneka, will not contract Letumosis.

"James," whispers the Crocodile. "She is my daughter too."

Anyang reaches her hand out to Hook.

To their surprise, he takes it. Together, the two grieving parents hold each other for comfort. Over their dying daughter, Amara Julo.

"I can find a cure," declares Hook.

"You spent the last eight years trying to. Amara needs you." Voice breaking, she adds, "I need you. Please _come home_."

His shoulders droop, and tears fall from his eyes.

Five days later, Blue Fever takes another victim. But Amara Julo dies with a smile on her face, because her father came home.


End file.
